Bears DE Austin Booker Is Stepping Up for Chicago’s Defense

Austin Booker is having the best season of his young NFL career. 

Through the first nine games of the 2026 season, the 6-foot-6, 245-pound edge rusher leads the Chicago Bears' with his career-high five sacks -- half a sack more than his previous high from last season. With 27 total tackles, he's well on pace to exceed the 35 mark he set during his sophomore season. Booker also has two forced fumbles. 

After Booker's performance in the 27-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 9, head coach Ben Johnson highlighted him as one of the defensive standouts along with cornerback Jaylon Johnson and linebacker Devin Bush. 

"Austin Booker made some great plays for us," Johnson said. "His intensity, his effort. They keep getting better week in and week out."

The Bears needed Booker to step up this season, especially after Dayo Odeyingbo went on IR with a quadriceps injury after the Week 5 game against the Green Bay Packers and Montez Sweat being suspended for two games because of a PED violation. 

Booker, a former fifth-round pick from Kansas, has given defensive coordinator Dennis Allen a productive edge rusher on this Bears defense. The Bears' defensive end has benefitted from playing more snaps now that he is in the second year of Allen's defense. With three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons now on the interior, this will allow Booker to have more one-on-one opportunities.

He's capitalizing on those pass rush snaps and making plays for the defense. The clip below shows all five of Booker's sacks this season.

Going into the 2026 season, Booker needed to prove he could become a more reliable run stopper. The 23-year-old has shown exactly that, posting his highest-rated run stopping grade of his career (72.9), according to Pro Football Focus. 

Booker is also currently ranked No. 5 in the NFL in rush defense stuff rate (11.4%) -- which is a percentage of base defense rush snaps resulting in a stuffed tackle. 

Coming out of their Week 10 bye, the Bears face the league's toughest remaining schedule. Not only do they have four games left against NFC North rivals (who each have six wins), but they also have to face two top-five scoring offenses in the AFC-South leading Jacksonville Jaguars and AFC-East leading Buffalo Bills. 

To stop those opposing offenses, the Bears will need each member of the defense to step up. Booker has done that through the first half of the season and will need to continue his elevated play as Chicago looks to make a deep playoff push.